India's wireless market continues strong growth

The Indian mobile phone market jumped 2.76% in October to 706.69 million subscribers, according to the latest statistics from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The regulatory body noted the country’s mobile penetration rate now stood at 59.52%.
Bharti Airtel Ltd. remained the country’s largest carrier with more than 146 million subscribers, or just over 20% of the country’s total wireless customers. Reliance Communications Ltd. was the nation’s second largest operator with approximately 119.36 million customers, or 16.89% of the market; with Vodafone Essar Ltd. No. 3 with 118 million customers, or 16.7% of the market. However, Vodafone managed to post a larger share of net customer additions during October, inching closer to Reliance in overall market share.
Other Indian operators with significant market share include Tata Communications Ltd. with 11.44% of the market, or nearly 81 million customers; Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. also with approximately 81 million customers or 11.43% of the market; Idea Cellular Ltd. with 10.76% market share, or approximately 76 million customers; and Aircel India with 6.72% of the market, or 47.49 million customers. Eight other operators control the remaining 5.37% market share, including Uninor, Sistema, Videocon, MTNL, Loop, Stel, HFCL and Etisalat.
Overall, TRAI noted that the country’s mobile industry added nearly 19 million customers during October, while the country’s wireline businesses lost 137,718 subscribers.